Garret Dillahunt Talks About the Challenge and Heightened Language of TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE

On June 7th, Collider was invited to the set of the new thriller The Scribbler, based on the graphic novel by Dan Schaffer and directed by John Suits. In the film, Suki (Katie Cassidy) is a young woman confronting her destructive mental illness by using “The Siamese Burn”, an experimental machine designed to eliminate multiple personalities, of which she has a few. The film also stars Garret Dillahunt, Gina Gershon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Billy Campbell, Eliza Dushku, Michael Imperioli, Sasha Grey and Ashlynn Yennie.

While we’ll post what Garret Dillahunt had to say about making the film closer to its release, which is expected to be sometime in 2013, we did want to share what he had to say about having just signed on for director Steve McQueen’s next film,Twelve Years a Slave(also starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, BenedictCumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Paul Dano), what attracted him to the project, and the challenge of the heightened language in the script. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Collider: Didn’t you just sign on to do Twelve Years a Slave?

GARRET DILLAHUNT: Yeah!

What was the appeal of that for you?

DILLAHUNT: It’s a great cast. That’s going to be a whole other kind of challenge. The language in that is so heightened, in its way. Even the most uneducated was fairly poetic, in the way they expressed themselves. My character certainly is that. He goes on and on about his troubles. But, I’ve long been a fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor. I think he’s a great actor. He’s my kind of guy. He does what I aspire to do. The difference between him in Kinky Boots and this is exactly what we’re supposed to do. I’m really excited to work with him. My scenes are all with him.

Steve McQueen is such an interesting, thoughtful filmmaker.

DILLAHUNT: I’m excited to get to know him. I’ve never met him. It will be fun. I like how he’s kinda messy. I like that. I think things should be messy.

With the collection of characters that you’ve already played, what do you look for in a project?

DILLAHUNT: I just like a good story. I want the story to be good and I want the character to be different than the last one I played. That’s not always possible, but that’s what I want. I want to be different and have a good story. If it’s a good story, then everybody is trying to tell it, everybody is better for it, and it’s just more fun. I’ve always liked stories. I’m always reading, ever since I was a kid. I’ve always been reading and wanting to be in some other world. This is the perfect job for me.